1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to footwear, footwear components, and to methods of making and using same. In another aspect, the present invention relates to illuminated footwear, to footwear components, and to methods of making and using same.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
It has long been known in the field of footwear to incorporate lighting devices, usually electrical in nature, into shoes, boots, sandals and the like for various reasons, e.g., to permit the wearer to see or be seen in reduced light situations, or to provide special effects during certain entertainment events.
A simple implementation of this type of footwear typically includes a light source, e.g., an incandescent bulb, a neon tube, or a light emitting diode (“LED”), a portable power supply, such as a battery, a manually operated on-off switch, and an electrical circuit connecting the three in series, all located in the footwear, typically within the sole and/or heel structures.
More complex lighted footwear efforts have been directed to switching the lighting circuit on and off in association with the presence or absence of the wearer's foot in the shoe, or by the contact of the wearer's foot with the ground, e.g., during walking or running. For example, the lighting circuit is switched on when the wearer's foot is inserted into the shoe. As another example, shoes may also includes means for automatically deactivating the lighting circuit under conditions of high ambient light. As even another example, footwear may contain lighting circuits activated by a switch disposed in the sole of the shoe and actuated by pressure exerted on it by the underside of the wearer's foot in contacting the ground. A more elaborate example involves a pneumatically actuated switch. As still another example, footwear may contain lighting circuits activated by a switch disposed in the sole of the shoe and actuated by pressure exerted on it by the ground when the shoe contacts the ground. As yet another example, footwear may contain lighting circuits activated by the angular position of the footwear.
Certainly, there are a number of patents disclosing footwear with lighting, the following of which are merely a few examples.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,951 to Powell issued Dec. 26, 1978, discloses illuminated dancing shoes in which the heel is made of hollow plastic and contains a battery powered flashlight for illuminating a compartment therein, having light transmitting holes in a side wall, covered with a translucent name label; and a light port at the front of the heel for energizing a bundle of light carrying optical fibers, extending through and embedded in the sole via branches that end in small light emitting faces spaced around the edge of the sole; and a manual switch in the front wall of the heel for enabling an energizing circuit for the flashlight, containing a spring opened pressure switch having a switch contact-roller, the rim of which normally is slightly below the bottom of the heel, but closes the pressure switch when the shoe is stood on by the wearer, energizing the flashlight with each tap, and producing a series of flashes from the sole.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,131 to Rondini, issued Oct. 1, 1991, discloses strapped footwear with decorative lighting having a combination strap and decorative lighting fully encased in transparent tubing providing multifunctional footwear suitable for a variety of occasions including leisure and night clubs having a battery, lights encased in a transparent tubing connecting to a battery timed switch for flashing the lights and battery compartment located in the sole of the sandal in a compartment which is closed by a fastener and means for opening and closing the circuit. The combination pliable strap for fixing the foot to the footwear and decorative lighting cover can be employed in a variety of configurations to construct a wide diversity of footwear constructed in accordance with the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,489 to Crews, issued Sep. 22, 1992, discloses illuminated ski boots and poles. The inventive ski boots include two layers of material for added warmth as well as a plurality of illuminated regions. Each illuminated region includes a lens which is elongated and which may be colored. Within each lens, an optical fiber is disposed. All of the optical fibers are exposed to light from a light source contained in each boot so that all of the lenses are illuminated when a switch is activated. The inventive ski poles have a transparent housing with a handle containing batteries and a light and with an optical fiber extending through the transparent portion to be illuminated by the light within the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,485 to Goldston et al., issued Apr. 19, 1994, discloses footwear with flashing lights adapted to enhance the visibility of the wearer contains a light source, a power source, circuitry to connect the power source to the light source, and a pressure switch disposed in the sole of the footwear between the wearer's foot and the ground and adapted to turn the light source off when the wearer's foot is on the ground, and hence static, thereby conserving the power source, and to switch the light source on when the wearer's foot is off the ground, and usually moving, thereby providing enhanced visibility of the footwear and its wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,621 to Raskas, issued Jul. 4, 1995, discloses an illuminatible shoelace device which comprises a section of flexible material having a cavity within the section and the section having a pair of ends, a fiber optic section is positioned within the cavity with a light source coupled to an end of the fiber optic section, a power supply is provided to power the light source, and switching circuitry, associated with the light source and the power supply, switches the light source on and off for transmitting light through the fiber optic section with the transmitted light illuminating the fiber optic section and the section of flexible material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,188 to Drago et al., issued Oct. 24, 1995, discloses a synthesized music, sound and light system that is incorporated into articles of clothing such as a pair of shoes. The system when activated, allows a multiplicity of lights to illuminate in synchrony with the rhythmic beat of either an internal or an external music or sound program that is heard through an audio transducer. When the system is incorporated into a pair of shoes, a person can perform a dance routine or other form of expression in compliment with the selected music and light program. To enhance the utility of the invention, the system includes three user operated controls: a music program select switch that allows the selection of musical light programs, a control that allows the speed of the lights and rhythmic beat of the selected program to be increased or decreased, and a control that allows setting the volume of the sound.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,635 to Mott, issued Mar. 19, 1996, discloses products incorporating piezoelectric material, in particular a shoe, apparel, a ball or a fishing lure, incorporating an impact-sensing element made from polymeric piezoelectric material. In response to impact, the piezoelectric material generates an electrical signal to a battery-powered light- or sound-emitting unit or to an information display device which is at least partially molded into or contained in the product, thus causing circuitry to energize the light- or sound-emitting device from the battery or to display information on the information display device. In some embodiments involving light-emitting devices such as LEDs, the light is conducted to an outside surface of the product directly through the LED or via one or more optical fibers. A shoe can be provided with numerous light-emitting devices, one or more impact sensing elements, a temperature sensor and appropriate circuitry to process the impact and temperature information. This information is then used to light appropriate light-emitting devices such as to display a bar graph of temperature or force of impact, to light or flash individual light-emitting devices or to activate an information display device. In addition, a microprocessor can be included in the circuitry to provide preprogrammed control of the light emitting devices or to evaluate the input from the impact sensing element and then light the appropriate light emitting device or devices or to control the information displayed on the information display device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,903 issued Feb. 25, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,999 issued Apr. 2, 1996, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,121 issued Feb. 24, 1998, all to Barker, disclose footwear with illuminated linear optics having a power source, at least one light source operatively connected to the power source, a switching circuit for selectively illuminating the light source, and a linear side-glow optical conduit positioned exteriorly on the footwear so as to be visible when illuminated, the linear optical conduit having opposed end portions and being capable of emitting light conducted therethrough radially outwardly from its circumferential periphery substantially along its entire length, at least one end portion of the linear optical conduit being positioned and located in close proximity to the light source so as to receive light therefrom when illuminated, the linear optical conduit being illuminated substantially along its entire length when the light source is selectively illuminated. In the preferred embodiment, the linear optical conduit extends substantially around the outer exterior front and side portions of the footwear, although other arrangements are also disclosed herein. An interchangeable filter member may also be positioned between the light source and the one end portion of the linear optical conduit positioned in close proximity thereto, the filter member determining the color of the light directed towards the linear optical conduit end portion. The main features of the present invention are also incorporated into a self-contained portable illumination unit which can be easily attached to and removed from a wide variety of footwear. All embodiments of the present invention are adaptable for use on and with a wide variety of different types and styles of footwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,971 to Madden, issued Sep. 3, 1996, discloses a light assembly for shoe skates that removably encircles the skate frame below the shoe and is held in place by elastic tension. A plurality of light sources are positioned along the sides of the skate frame and are powered by a self-contained electric power source. The light sources may be a pair of elongate electroluminescent light sources or a plurality of LED's.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,828 to Nadel et al., issued Nov. 26, 1996, discloses light illuminating assemblies for wearing apparel. The decorative assembly includes a soft, flexible panel member having an upper surface, a lower surface, and a peripheral edge surface. The flexible panel member is sufficiently flexible to conform to the curvature of the mounting surface by hand pressure alone and is substantially comprised of a transparent or a translucent material. The flexible panel member defines a cavity in communication with the peripheral edge surface, which cavity is dimensioned and arranged to receive at least one light emitting element. The lower surface of the panel member causes a decorative pattern of refractive grooves dimensioned and arranged to reflect light propagating through the panel member in a plane disposed between its upper and lower surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,346 to Barker, issued Sep. 9, 1997, discloses a self-contained portable illumination unit removably attachable to a wide variety of footwear having a body assembly capable of housing and securely holding a power source, a switching circuit for selectively illuminating the light source, and one end portion of a linear side-glow optical conduit capable of emitting light conducted therethrough radially outwardly from its circumferential periphery substantially along its entire surface area, the one end portion of the linear optical conduit being positioned and located in close proximity to the light source so as to receive light therefrom when illuminated. The body assembly further includes a removable cover member for providing access to the power source and a removably adjustable mounting clip for removably attaching the body assembly to the footwear. When attached to footwear, the linear optical conduit extends exteriorly thereof so as to be visible when illuminated, the linear optical conduit being illuminated substantially along its entire length when the light source is selectively illuminated.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,757 to Chien, issued Mar. 3, 1998, discloses an illumination arrangement for a soft object such as an article of wearing apparel utilizes a light emitting diode as a light source and an optical element coupled with the light emitting diode to enhance the visibility of the illumination arrangement by distributing light emitted by the diode uniformly over a length or surface area of the optical element. The optical element may for example form part of a lace assembly, strap, or decorative panel of a shoe, boot, or sandal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,148 to Guerra, issued Sep. 29, 1998, discloses footwear with optical fiber illuminating display areas provides emphasis on illuminating certain features of the footwear, such as trademarks, logos, team sports, cartoon characters, and other artistic designs primarily for advertising, decoration and enhancing the visibility of the wearer. Footwear with optical fiber illuminating display areas includes: an optical fiber panel(s) made visible through an opening, window, or transparent material on the sole, upper, or tongue portions of the footwear; a light emitting device(s) which transmits light into the optical fiber panel(s); components and circuits for making the light emitting device(s) and the illuminating optical fiber display areas intermittently flash, alternate flash, alternate colors, sequence in motion, activate by pressure or motion switching, activate by manual switching, or any combination thereof; and batteries for supplying power to the light emitting device and the components and circuits aforementioned. A control module combines the light emitting device(s), components and circuits, and batteries into a housing which is positioned in the heel, sole, upper, or tongue portion of the footwear, depending on the embodiment employed. Such footwear embodiments include and are not limited to athletic shoes (e.g. Tennis, Basketball, aerobic, cross trainers, walking, jogging, running), casual and formal dress shoes, roller skates, Ice skates, and Ski boots.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,894,686 issued Apr. 20, 1999 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,030,089 issued Feb. 29, 2000, both to Parker et al., disclose light distribution systems that include a light emitting portion, a light source for supplying light to the light emitting portion and a power source for the light source. A sealed holder or pocket may be provided for the light emitting portion. The light emitting portion may be located on an upper portion of a shoe and include a raised or relieved area from which light is emitted. The light distribution systems may include an additional light source which is directional so it can be seen at a greater distance than the light emitting portion. An information display system may also be provided, including a liquid crystal display located on an upper portion of a shoe, and a motion sensor for controlling operation of the display.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,468 to Capriola, issued Aug. 14, 2007, discloses an apparatus for illuminating shoes and fashion accessories that includes a fiber optic cable, a clasp and a control circuit. The fiber optic cable has a first coupling point and a second coupling point. The clasp has a housing, a retention mechanism, a first connector and a second connector. The first connector is configured to couple to the first coupling point and the second connector is configured to couple to the second coupling point of the fiber optic cable. The control circuit is disposed within the housing and has a power source and at least one illuminating device. The illuminating device is optically coupled to one or both of the first and second connectors in order to illuminate at least a portion of the fiber optic cable with light. At least one of the clasp and the illuminating device is removable to permit interchangeable selectivity of the color of the illuminating light.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,347,577 to Rapisarda, issued Mar. 25, 2008, discloses a lighting system for clothing, footwear, backpacks, and other accessories that incorporates a battery, a switch, a counter circuit, a flasher and lamps or LEDs driven by the flasher. An improved switch has a tubular housing of electrical insulating material, which may be, for example, round or square in cross section. A pair of electrical contact pins extend into the interior of the housing and are aligned longitudinally. The external ends of the contact pins are wired to the counter circuit and the battery. A free-floating contact bar of electrical conducting material normally resides on the bottom of the housing and, upon movement of the shoe or clothing, will bounce against the contact pins thus closing the switch and causing an input signal to the counter circuit and causing the lamps or LEDs to be illuminated momentarily. In a second embodiment, the contact pins extend through the bottom of the housing and the contact bar may rest against the contact pins. An electrical timer circuit responsive to closing of the switch limits the flashing of the LEDs to one sequence of flashes until further movement of the switch causes it to open and close again.